The Stardust Boat Trips run out of Portree Harbour covering up to 20 miles at sea. Ordinarily there are two trips to enjoy – Portree Harbour and the Sound of Raasay. Due to Covid-19 restrictions just the Sound of Raasay trip is running but to be honest this is the one we would have chosen to go on. We chose a sailing on the Stardust II as it is a wheelchair accessible vessel. Here is how our day went…
All aboard the Stardust Boat Trip
We booked our trip by phone the week before and notified them that we would be taking Sarah’s wheeled walker on board. “Not a problem at all” was the response to our request. On arrival for our sailing we had an enthusiastic greeting from Joan. She had us and our requirements on her list. Joan pointed out that the boat might moor at one of two places on the harbour. We sat and waited at the slipway, however Joan phoned the Skipper as he came into sight to check where he was mooring. Due to the tide changing and the slipway being quite wet and slippery he moored at the pontoon. The pontoon is further along the harbour but Joan reassured us to take our time and not to rush.
The Pontoon
You cannot see the Pontoon from the Harbour as it is behind the Harbour Offices and Just Hooked Seafood. It is a metal walkway initially flat and then a flexible slope. The sloping section will never be the same twice as it moves up and down with the tides. It was low tide for our sailing so it was rather steep to get up and down. With a higher tide the slope would be much more gentle.
Where the sloping section meets the level walkway and pontoon there is a small hump to get over. Nothing impossible but unavoidable due to the design of a tide affected walkway. The floating pontoon has a couple of 4-5 cm gaps to go over but there is a rubber mat covering the worst one. Sarah glided over each one with ease. The hardest bit for Sarah was the steepness of the slope on this occasion. Her poor legs will be aching as we write this up!
Getting onboard the Stardust II
We were greeted at the Stardust by Skipper Campbell and Joan who helped us aboard. I folded Sarah’s rollator and carried it aboard. Campbell and Joan assisted Sarah with a small step up and onto the boat. As soon as we were onboard there was plenty of space for the rollator and nice wide seating to get comfy on. If you need to board with a wheelchair the skipper will moor the boat with the stern (rear) facing the pontoon and will lower down a ramp. We were told that they have had large motorised wheelchairs on board no problem. In fact they were proud to saw that no matter what type of wheelchair or aid someone has turned up with they have never failed to get it onboard. On our sailing there were 7 people, including us sat downstairs and 6 people climbed the ladder and sat upstairs.
The Sound of Raasay Trip
The trips last 2 hour and takes in the sights of Portree’s natural harbour, the amazing seaward face of Ben Tianavaig and the shore of Raasay. Lucky for us sea conditions were perfect. The sea was calm, the wind light, a little bit of sun and only one light rain shower. As we sailed into the harbour we had a safety briefing and an orientation as to what you could see on the skyline. We then headed off round the corner of Ben Tianavaig to look for the infamous White Tailed Eagle. After much searching it was proved to be illusive. We did spot a couple of seals playing in wake of the boat.
From the craggy pinnacles and caves of Ben Tianavaig we hit the open water and shot across the Narrows of Raasay to Holoman Island. Here we saw a colony of Common Seals. Happily sunning themselves high on the rocks. They had no care in the world we were watching them at all. The views south towards Glamaig and Beinn Na Callaich were beautiful.
As we turned North there were chinks of sunlight on the Trotternish Ridge. We circled round close to the small township of Camustianavaig and made our way back along the shoreline of Ben Tianavaig. Then finally we spotted one, a White Tailed Eagle. Flying between it’s perch and nest site. A fish was thrown into the sea to tempt it to come closer but she’d clearly eaten enough and stayed away. It was still quite the privilege to watch her flying about the cliffs.
Back to Portree
From Ben Tianavaig we made our way back to Portree Harbour having had a wonderful trip. Help to get onto dry land came from Campbell and Skipper Dan who had greeted the boat. Dan showed us how they can move the seating to get the rollator off without folding it. It was a bit of a bigger step down but with plenty of help Sarah disembarked without losing any dignity. The crew & team of the Stardust Boat Trip will make your time with them easy and enjoyable. They made sure we could get back up the pontoon and waved us goodbye. Once back up the steep pontoon Sarah stopped to rest her weary legs. Here we bumped into Joan and Dan again, both of whom checked we were ok and that we’d had a good time onboard. We certainly did and here is a short video of our trip.
Getting to the Stardust Boat Trip
The Stardust Boat Trip is located on Portree Harbour where parking is pretty much non existent. If you might have difficulty walking down Quay Brae to the harbour it may be better you get dropped off first. There is disabled parking in the car park next to An Talla Mor 1820 and in Somerled Square. This is only a 5 minute walk for someone with no mobility issues. There is a disabled toilet on the harbour or up in the village, to “spend a penny” before you get on board.
We had a fantastic afternoon on the Stardust Boat Trip. Highly accessible, extremely friendly and plenty of wildlife to see. Keep your eye on their website or Facebook Page for details of sailings.
